3 Concerts in 3 Weeks!

These past three weeks I have rung in the holiday's by going to three Christmas concerts!

I attended my first concert at the National Concert Hall with my host mother and our neighbors. We listened to a French violinist play many classical songs. It was very interesting! Not my kind of music, but I take every opportunity to experience something new, and make the best of it. Sometimes I had to envision an orchestra behind him and then maybe Adele belting it out in front of him, but it was still good!

The second concert I attended was with my friend from Thanksgiving, Sister Mary Beth. We listened and watched many Taiwanese choirs, and famous performers.  We enjoyed Christmas tunes with some added Taiwanese twists! It was really nice to sing-a-long to the songs I knew in a great Christmas setting. Being with a great friend made the night even better! So thankful for Sister Mary Beth and her company on this night!

My third and last concert for the month of December was a fun one! I attended the National Concert Hall again, this time with five of my exchange student friends - France, Germany, and the U.S.. We watched a German and Cuban Percussion band called the Klazz Brothers. It was so much fun! There were five guys in the band, playing the piano, the bass, drums, and two Cuban men on the bongo's! Christmas meets Cuba - good classic Christmas songs with the cha cha cha of Cuban music. These men were fun and funny.  Being surrounded by a Taiwanese audience was all that more funny! Dancing and singing along to this great music was great and a unique way to try and get into the Christmas spirit.

I really enjoyed all three concerts and I am so happy I experienced them! Thank you to all who came along and included me these nights!

Coming of Age Ceremony!

An INCREDIBLE day! The Coming of Age Ceremony is a traditional ceremony that the Taiwanese take part in during their teenage years, symbolizing entering into adulthood and leaving childhood. On December 9th, District 3520 Rotary Youth Exchange students were given the opportunity to experience this full on! Pretty cool!

My day started at 8:45 a.m. at the Confucius Temple here in Taipei. We practiced our dances once in the morning and then we were able to take a tour of the beautiful temple and another one near by as well. Our tour guide was great and made understanding the beliefs and traditional values of Confucius and Taiwanese people very easy. The history dates so far back, and it goes deep, making it all a bit hard to grasp. However, being at Confucious' Temple, and reading his philosophies and principles first hand, along with the tour guide who was able to break it all down for us was incredible! I am now able to better understand and actually see his philosophies and principles in my host families and the other Taiwanese I have encountered. It was neat to make that connection.  I was able to look back on my time here in Taiwan and be able to say that I have talked about or experienced first hand various philosphies and principles actions with the people here in Taiwan!

After trekking through the rain with our umbrellas, we made it back to the ceremony location. We ate lunch and then began getting dressed in our traditional outfits. The girls wore red and the boys wore gold! The outfits made it all more real for all of the exchange students.  It felt cool to be fully engaged in the day!  Rotarian's, the US ambassador for Taiwan, and host families began to take their seats, and the ceremony began!

The Coming of Age Ceremony begins  by participants walking through the temple doors and washing our hands in a fountain made of banana leaves. Washing our hands symbolizes washing away childhood and having clean hands for entry into adulthood.  The RYE's were then seated and listen to remarks from the Rotarian's.  After the remarks, we begin to dance. For the past four Fridays, I have been spending my afternoons practicing traditional Chinese culture dances with the other RYE students. We practiced the Dragon dance, Weapons dance, and a famous Taiwanese hip-hop dance that our choreographer added some Gangnam Style to! The Dragon dance involved carrying the big dragon around and lifting people at certain times in the dance.  So, this dance was bested suited fot the the strong boys. The Weapon dance involves a lot of grunting noises.  I just couldn't pull this one off.  However, the traditional hip-hop dance, with a mix of Gangnam Style - was their pick for me! We shared the day with another Rotary District, so we had two more Fan dances from that District as well. The dances all went smoothly and it was both funny and so cool to see all the exchange students dancing a traditional dance in Taiwan after just four days of practice! One thing we exchange students seem to have in common -  we give it everything we have!  We roll with anything, and we love to smile and laugh!  This made the entire day even better!

When we finished with the performances, we began the actual Ceremony itself! We walk with our frame that includes our dreams, and our parents dreams for us. Then one by one, we slowly walk under a table and  pause while under the table, then,step out. Once this is completed, you move up to the stage where the girls hair is pinned by their parent and the boys are given their hat. Of course, we are in Taiwan, so there are thousands of pictures after!

The whole proccess was really unique.  I am so happy I was able to experience this ceremony! Thank you  fellow RYE students and District 3520 for making this such a memorable day!

Speech Competition

On December 1st, I participated in a Mandarin Chinese speech competition. I had signed up, not in hopes of winning, but rather to build my vocabulary, practice speaking Chinese, and continue in the Rotary way of becoming even better in future speaking engagements.

I was given a list of eight topics which I could choose from when I signed up, all having to do with Taiwan or Rotary International! My topic was "Why I chose to come to Taiwan for language study?" Writing my answer to this question came easy.  I am passionate about my desire to learn the Chinese language and it is one of the reasons I chose Taiwan for exchange!  However, translating this into Chinese, with the help of my teacher, and learning the pronounciation and meaning of each sentence, was incredibly difficult. There were a couple of times during my speech preparation that I questioned my desire to come Taiwan and learn this incredibly difficult language - which may not be the hardest language to learn, but quite possibly is one of THE hardest languages to learn in the world! Ha! The passion I have to learn and speak Chinese has paid off!

My speech went smoothly, although I was just a bit nervous! I was competing against foreigners from all over the world and also Rotary Youth Exchange students in Taiwan! I didn't place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd.  However, the judges and audience members told me my pronunciation was impeccable and they thought my content was great. What an honor!  I won 600NTD for my effort. This will buy me a a couple days of MRT rides and a treat - which is nice!

I am so glad I entered this competition and cannot wait for the next competition so that I can see my improvement!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving - running your Turkey Trot or just engaging in a delicious Thanksgiving meal!

About a week before Thanksgiving, I was sitting outside my classroom building waiting for class to begin! I was early and having a bit of a rough morning in terms of my emotions. As I was sitting there, an American looking Sister walked by. We both smiled at each other and she kept walking and I kept sitting there. Simultaneously, we both turned around and looked as though we wanted to talk to each other. Sister Mary-Beth, a Sister of the Catholic Church is from California and has lived in Taiwan for over 22 years.  We talked for a little while and got to know each other a bit. She asked me what I was doing for Thanksgiving and I had nothing planned. I wasn't going to be able to cook for my host family as they were busy, so I said YES to Thanksgiving dinner with she and her friends!

So, on Thanksgiving night, in a rainstorm,  I headed to their home for dinner! From the moment I walked in the door, I felt so at home. Everyone was so kind and having the delicious smell of a cooking turkey, mashed potatoes, apple pie, and a few of my favorite Taiwanese cuisines cooking in the kitchen didn't make it too hard to stick around! Ha! While the finishing touches were being put on our Thanksgiving Feast, I was able to engage in a little arts and crafts - fall wreath and turkey decorations. Sister Mary-Beth and Sister Susan,  and I had to dig deep into our brains to share with the Taiwanese Sisters and others sharing our dinner, about why we Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. It was fun!

Dinner was delicious! I haven't actually missed American food since being in Taiwan and I would have been OK without eating Thanksgiving dinner,  but it sure did taste good! It was a special treat for me! Thank you Pauleen for the great pies!

The night was really great! I was so thankful to be surrounded by kind, new friends, eating a delicious American/Taiwanese meal, sharing my life with others and having them share theirs with me too.  Overall, enjoying a once in a lifetime experience here in Taiwan! I will forever remember this great night.

Thank you Sister Mary-Beth, Sister Andrea, Sister Susan, Arlene, Rebecca, and Pauleen for making my Taiwanese Thanksgiving Thursday so special! You all put a smile on my face! I am very grateful to have met each of you and I look forward to spending more time with you all soon!

My thankful thought on Thanksgiving: I am thankful for my ability to smile because it led me to these new friends and a great night in Taiwan!:)

Taipei 101

I have been driving past this incredibly tall building for over three months now,  and I finally got up to the top this past Monday to view Taipei! On the 89th floor of the what is known as Taipei 101, there is an observatory where you can view the city of Taipei from all four sides. It is said to have one of the most incredible views of Taipei. I can assure you that it does! Even with rain and fog, the view was incredible. I was able to point out my school, my host family's homes, and monuments I have visited. It was really cool! With only a 36 seconds elevator ride to the top, possibly one of the world's fastest elevator rides, this is a must see when you come to Taiwan. Thank you for lunch and spending the afternoon with me Sam!

2012 Election Day and A Running Race!

2012 Election Day in the USA! I know you are all so glad it is over, and so am I! However, it was a special day here in Taiwan, one which I will remember for a long time to come. Having exchange students from all over the world be so excited about our election, and care so much about what was going on in our country was awesome! We followed the election all Wednesday morning during our Chinese class at the University... We all  became excited every time the numbers would rise! The students from the other countries all wanted Obama, and so did all the Americans.  It was was very cool to see him win! We shared in the excitement and chanted USA USA NUMBER 1 NUMBER 1 - a couple of times outside of the University! I am so proud to be an American and an ambassador through Rotary, especially on this day.  It was great to be able to share this historic moment with my RYE friends from all over the world!

A couple of weeks ago my classmates asked me if I wanted to run in a race! I said yes, and agreed to what they were telling me even though I didn't have much of an idea of what I was getting in to. Ha! So, the other night after school, I ran against girls from my school in the 800 meter race. The entire school was there, cheering us all on!  Each of us running in our beautiful turqouise blue and white uniforms! It was really fun, but also a bit nerveracking! The focus seemed to be on me!  The silly American, who was running in the race at their school. I got second place and advanced to the finals! Sadly, I wasn't able to compete in the final race because I had a Rotary meeting that same night.  I am so glad I particpated in the race though!

Just two exciting things that I thought I would share! :)

Country Fair!

NO...not the country fair you are thinking of in your hometown, USA! Rather, the Rotary Youth Exchange Country Fair, where all the exchange students come together from each country and create a booth all about your home country.  We then share with students from Taiwan who would like to become a RYE and travel abroad next year. Talk about six good hours of country pride!

 

 

I really enjoyed my day standing behind the United States booth! Answering questions from the hopeful Taiwan students and their families, sharing with them and other exchange students our foods.  Thrilling and maybe annoying others with a large amount of USA pride, while simoutaneously being thrilled and annoyed by the other countries as well.  All coming under one roof, becoming one family, made up of so many unique worlds. It was a great day to smile! The feeling I received everytime I handed out a USA/Colorado/Vail pin was one of pride. I felt proud and honored to be an American and to have grown up in such a wonderful state and community. It is true...until you live in another country and spend your time surrounded by such a different culture, it is then that you learn so much more about your own country. The good and bad!

Thank you to Rotary for allowing me to be a part of this day! A great day of coming together as ONE!